


The One Where They Fake Date

by claimingsanctuary (emmarowene)



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, fake dating au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-11-07 14:44:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11061162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmarowene/pseuds/claimingsanctuary
Summary: "I don't think they realize they're doin' it," Adam said, watching Gansey and Blue flirt. He thought it over. "Or, I don't think they know how bad they are."Noah groaned and fell backward, sprawling out on Monmouth's dirty floor, next to Ronan. "Someone should tell them." He stared up at the ceiling a moment and then sat up in a flash. His grin was wide and wicked as he glanced between Ronan and Adam, and then Gansey and Blue. "I've got it! Someone should /show/ them! They need to see a couple just as gross as them, so you two: pretend to date."(The One Where Ronan and Adam Fake Date Because Blue and Gansey's Flirting Is Driving Everyone Crazy)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaa, my first Pynch fic! I imagine this is on some sort of alternate timeline, where Gansey and Blue started dating much sooner, maybe? I don't know, whatever timeline it takes to make this fic work, because I love the idea of it.

Blue sat very near Gansey, leaning against his desk and looking on while he flipped through a disheveled mountain of papers. There were graphs, there were charts, there were pages filled with line after line of the cramped, smudged text that screamed _I'm really old._  There were also pages filled with Gansey's own scrawling handwriting. Those fascinated Blue the most. It would take her hours to get through the stack and make sense of it all, but Gansey sifted through with an ease that comes from familiarity, from sleepless nights spent rereading and compiling. She wondered, briefly, why none of this had made it into Gansey's journal. Maybe he didn't deem it important enough, maybe he'd run out of room and was getting ready to start up Journal 2.0, or maybe this was just his "to add" pile.

 

Whatever it was, it _was_  important enough to frustrate him. In Gansey, that frustration manifested in a small line between his eyebrows and a slight downward pull of his lips. When he made a frustrated sound, his hand twitching like he wanted to bunch up the paper he was holding and throw it across the room, Blue covered that hand with her own. With her free hand, she put a finger under Gansey's chin and tilted his face to look at her.

"Let's take a break," she said, patting his cheek playfully. "I'm not dissing your all-important hunt for Glendower or anything, but eating is important, too. I reckon you need to eat, and I _definitely_  need to. I'm starving."

Gansey cringed, apologetic. He grabbed Blue's hand before she could pull it away and kissed the back of it, like a knight would his liegelord. "Sorry. You could have gotten something out of the fridge."

"Your fridge is in the _bathroom_ ," Blue said. She eyed the washroom, her button nose scrunching up in distaste. Gansey wanted to stand and kiss it. "I'd rather just go somewhere-- somewhere cheap, mind you."

Gansey thought it over. He'd been over his research a dozen times today alone, and hadn't found any answers. Around two that morning, he'd thought he'd stumbled across a new lead, but like all the others, it turned out to be a dead end. Maybe stepping away for a while would give him the distance he needed to get a fresh perspective. He reached for one of the mint leaves he left sitting on his desk, but Blue snatched it out from under him and popped it in her mouth with a smug look. Once she started chewing it, though, she made a face, and it was Gansey's turn to look smug. 

"Why the hell do you chew on these things?" she asked, spitting it into the garbage.

"They help your breath, have vitamins, antioxidant, and digestive benefits."

Blue snorted. "Nerd." She picked up another mint leaf. "Open."

Gansey smirked up at her and opened his mouth. They'd been dating for a few weeks now, and overtly flirtatious exchanges like this were more than common. He loved every minute of it. When he opened his mouth, Blue placed the mint leaf on his tongue.

 

Across the room, Adam and Noah watched the exchange in horrified silence. Ronan, sprawled out on the ground between them, pretended not to watch, but instead glowered at Monmouth Manufacturing's high ceilings like they were to blame for the whole situation.

"Ronan, you wanna throw me out the window again?" Noah muttered under his breath. His voice was a hiss of wind in Ronan and Adam's ears, surrounding them from all directions at once and making the hair at the back of their necks stand on end. Adam halfheartedly threw a paper airplane in Gansey and Blue's direction, but it nosedived into Gansey's model Henrietta and crashed into Nino's. The three of them-- two of them, since Noah was too incorporeal today to participate-- had been trying to see who could hit Gansey with an airplane first. So far, neither had made it very far.

"I don't think they realize they're doin' it," Adam said, watching Gansey and Blue flirt. He thought it over. "Or, I don't think they know how bad they are."

Noah groaned and fell backward, sprawling out on Monmouth's dirty floor, next to Ronan. "Someone should tell them." He stared up at the ceiling a moment and then sat up in a flash, his entire face lighting up. It was one of the rare moments when Noah looked at home in his Aglionby uniform, when you could almost see the boy he used to be. Those moments usually meant a prank, or a joke, or a story was about to come. Noah had the same look just before Ronan threw him out the window. His grin was wide and wicked as he glanced between Ronan and Adam, and then Gansey and Blue. "Someone should _show_  them! They're super bad with the flirting and the PDA because they don't know how annoying it is for us, but if they _knew_ , they'd stop. They need to see a couple just as gross as them, so you two. Pretend to date."

"Who two?" Adam asked, at the same time Ronan snarled, "Fuck off."

Ronan's glare was hot enough to melt metal. Adam was sure in that moment that if Noah had been a tangible person, he would've melted under the look Ronan gave him. Adam was glad he'd never been on the receiving end of that look. "No way in hell, man. _You_  can fake date Ronan, if this means so much to you."

Noah just looked at him in response, smile gone and gaze heavy. The beams of sunlight that streamed in through Monmouth's warbled windows fell on the smudge on Noah's cheekbone, reminding them all why Noah couldn't be part of a scheme like this. Adam ducked his head sheepishly, and Ronan let a hiss of air out through his teeth. "Nice going, Parrish. You've upset him."

Adam stared at Ronan, who had relaxed some now that the pressure was no longer on him. Relaxed _some,_  but not entirely. Not for the first time, Adam wondered what it would be like to date Ronan Lynch. It used to be more a distant curiosity, more pitying the girl Ronan might end up with than wondering for his own sake, but since he'd found out about Ronan's crush on him, the question had taken on a different meaning. Right now, it was right at the front of his mind. He tried to tell himself it was still just curiosity for curiosity's sake. 

Noah interrupted Adam's thoughts. "Alright, but my plan--,"

"Is stupid," Ronan snapped. "And we're not doing it."

"Ro- _nan,_ " Noah whined. He looked to Adam for help, but Adam just shrugged. Then Gansey's voice was suddenly cutting across the second floor of Monmouth Manufacturing, startling all three of them.

"When you clean up those airplanes, you'd better not hurt my Henrietta," He called. He looked at them over the top of his glasses, like a disappointed father who was tired of his children misbehaving. "Do you two want to get food somewhere?"

Adam glanced over his shoulder; Noah was gone.

 

Adam had nearly forgotten about that entire exchange by the time it came up again. It was a week later and they were all seated around their booth at Nino's. He said _their_  booth because the four of them-- five, if Blue wasn't working-- visited Nino's so much and sat in the same booth so many times, the seats might as well have their names on them. Adam was pretty sure _his_  seat had a perfect imprint of his ass. Henrietta really needed more cheap dining options. 

Today, Blue was working. In the few times she'd visited their table, she'd been terse with Gansey, which Adam understood. He'd probably pulled a Gansey, made some offhand comment about money that was only relatable if you'd ever _had_  it. "What did you say this time?" Adam asked when Blue flounced away at the end of her break. He wasn't actually sure he _wanted_  to know. It might just end with him _also_  being mad at Gansey. 

"Nothing!" Gansey said, but he squirmed under Adam and Ronan's glares. "Fine. I just...I want to try all of the normal, stereotypical dating experiences. Bowling. Movies. Picnics. It's a little hard when Blue won't let me _pay_ for the dates--," Gansey said, hurrying on when he noticed Adam frown, "--But I understand. So I suggested we go on a double date. As it turns out, Jane doesn't have many high school friends we could go with. And in hindsight, asking if Orla would work was a mistake."

Ronan let out a sharp laugh, surprising Adam, who sat next to him. When Adam gave him a sidelong look, Ronan just chuckled and muttered, " _Or-la,"_  dragging out the _Or._

Gansey glared at Ronan. "I _said_  it was a mistake." He turned to Adam. "I don't suppose there's any chance you're secretly dating someone without telling me?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Adam noticed Ronan stop playing with his bracelet. He shook his head. "Sorry, man."

"Shame, that."

Ronan sat up a little straighter. "What the hell," he growled. " _I_ could be secretly dating someone without telling you, why didn't you ask _me?_  Am I not good enough for your dumb double date idea?"

Gansey seemed amused, whether it was at the idea of Ronan dating or Ronan dating without _telling him_ , Adam wasn't sure. " _Are_  you secretly dating anyone without telling me?"

Ronan shifted in his seat and was about to say no when Noah elbowed him in the side. None of them were entirely sure when he'd shown up, but that was always the way. In greeting, Adam held out his hand for a knuckle bump and Ronan glared at Noah. Noah grinned back.

"Wait, wait." Gansey leaned across the table toward them. "There's something the three of you aren't saying. Noah?"

Noah shook his head, smirking. "It's not my secret to tell."

"There _is_  no secret, dipshit," Ronan hissed.

"Right, right." Noah winked at him. "There _is no_  secret."

"Why you little--"

Blue joined them again before Ronan could finish the thought, sliding into the booth beside Gansey and pressing right up against his side like there had never even been a fight. "My coworkers are driving me crazy," she mumbled under her breath. Gansey cringed sympathetically and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer.

Adam watched the exchange distantly. Blue murmured something to Gansey, Gansey murmured something back. Adam wanted that. He used to think he wanted it with Blue, but now, he wasn't sure. He just wanted it with _someone_ , even if it was fake. He needed to know what that closeness felt like. He glanced at Ronan. Once again, the question blared in his mind: what would it be like to date Ronan Lynch?

Without thinking, Adam blurted, "Ronan and I are dating."

Blue and Gansey froze mid-murmur, Noah let out a loud cackle before disappearing, and Ronan stiffened in his seat. Adam watched him, they all did, as Ronan did one of his infamous smoker breaths-- in through the mouth, slowly, and out through the nose. He gritted his teeth and, leaning into Adam's space, whispered, "Parrish, I am going to kill you." Louder, to Blue and Gansey, he said, "Yeah. Parrish and I are dating."


	2. Chapter 2

Ronan didn’t kill Adam immediately. To Adam’s surprise, he played along for the rest of the meal, only eventually snapping when Blue and Gansey’s questions got too invasive. They lied well together up to that point, though. They hadn’t been dating long. It was a gradual thing. Ronan is the one who asked Adam out. They’d only been on one official date together, then they’d argued over the bill. Adam wouldn’t let Ronan play.

Hell, _Adam_ almost believed the lie. The thing is, they spent enough time together that it was believable. Gansey didn’t blink twice. He seemed more hurt about them not telling him than anything else. When he brought it up, though, Adam just looked at Blue pointedly. At least _he_ wasn’t taking secret midnight car rides with Ronan. Blue was harder to convince; she insisted Ronan would “never actually get his head far enough out of his ass to ask Adam out.” In the end, though, they were convinced, especially when Noah reappeared and confirmed the story, his smirk taking up his whole face.

The longer Ronan took to get his revenge, the more Adam worried. He felt like he was constantly looking over his shoulder, never sure when Ronan would unleash his wrath. The longer it built up, the more volatile Ronan would be. It wasn’t until a few days later, when Adam was sprawled out on his bed after a long evening at work, trying to read something for class but finding his eyelids drooping shut, that someone rapped angrily at his door at least ten times. They kept knocking until Adam got up and threw the door open with a harsh, “ _What._ ”

Sure enough it was Ronan, looking several shades more murderous than usual. Ronan didn’t say anything immediately, just glared and let the silence seep between them until Adam had goosebumps running up his arms. Adam tried to tell himself it was the night’s chill, not Ronan, that had that effect on him.

“You don’t get to be mad at me,” Ronan said eventually, quietly, menacingly, “Because _I’m_ mad at _you_.” He jabbed his thumb at something over his shoulder. “He keeps bugging me.”

Adam looked over Ronan’s shoulder and there was Noah, standing on the stairs and smiling, completely unremorseful. Had he been there the whole time? Adam stepped aside to let them in. “Bugging you about what?”

“Don’t play dumb, Parrish.” Ronan strolled inside the tiny apartment, claiming the space as his own, and hesitated before sitting on the bed. It’s not like there was anywhere else to sit-- there was the bed and there was the desk chair, but that was currently covered with dirty clothes. Ronan’s presence always felt too big to be contained in this small room, but Adam liked having him here. Ronan’s presence made the room feel...secure. Less hollow. “He’s bugging me about your dumb plan.”

“It’s Noah’s dumb plan, technically.”

“Yeah, but who went along with it?” Ronan asked. He pointed an accusing finger at Adam; Adam shoved it aside and sat down next to him.

“You did,” Noah chirped. “The second Adam also went along with it.”

“Shut up,” Ronan snarled. “I only went along because it would’ve been awkward for Parrish if I’d called him out on his bullshit.”

“Lynch, you’ve _never_ worried about making anyone awkward, ever,” Adam said.

Ronan shrugged, avoiding Adam’s stare. That was weird, too-- Ronan never missed a chance to challenge anyone’s stares, even Adam’s. “Whatever. I’m sick of Blue and Dick’s cutesy couple shit.”

Noah clapped his hands together, making Adam jump. He’d forgotten Noah was even there. “That brings us to why I have gathered you here today.”

“You didn’t--,”

“ _I’ve gathered you_ here today because so far, you two have been the worst couple I’ve ever seen,” Noah said. He stood in front of Adam and Ronan like a parent scolding his children and fixed them both with what was probably supposed to be a stern look. “You have to get on Blue and Gansey’s level. When’s your double date supposed to be?”

Adam and Ronan made matching expressions of distaste. There was a fair a couple of towns over; they were all going together. Gansey had insisted. “Saturday,” Adam said.

“Alright, that gives you two days to step up your game. I’m talking hand holding. I’m talking pet names. Cheek kisses. Sharing dessert. Heavy makeout seshs, if you want to really commit. Ronan, so help me, if you don’t win Adam one of those cute little stuffed animals--,”

Ronan groaned and collapsed back onto the bed. “This is stupid.”

“ _You’re_ stupid,” Noah returned without missing a beat.

“You want to say that to my face, you little--,”

Adam was starting to regret agreeing to this. Why did he do it, again? It was more than Blue and Gansey’s PDA. It was more than Adam’s pride still stinging from Blue’s rejection. Was it more than loneliness? Was it more than wanting to be with someone, anyone, just for the sake of being with someone? Did it go deeper? Adam looked at Ronan. Ronan looked back.

“Anyway,” Noah said, “I’ll leave you lovebirds to talk boundaries and strategy.”

When Adam looked away from Ronan, Noah was gone. The place felt even smaller now, somehow, with just the two of them. Ronan sat up.

“Sorry, Ronan,” Adam said into the silence.

“For?”

“Gettin’ us into this, I guess.”

Ronan shrugged, the muscles of his shirt tensing. The edges of his tattoo were peeking out from under his tank top, and Adam found his eyes drawn to them. “What happens when we’re done? Do we tell them we were lying, or do we fake breakup?”  
Adam thought it over. “Tell them, I think. I don’t wanna keep a lie like that up forever. Plus, it’ll make the point better. First we weird ‘em out, then we can say ‘now you know how we always feel.’”

“Right. The _point._ ”

“Yeah. You going to be okay with this?”

Ronan narrowed his eyes at Adam. He’d been fidgeting with his bracelets since Noah left. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

It was Adam’s turn to shrug. He didn’t _know_ Ronan had a crush on him, but he was pretty sure. The small gestures, the staring, the fact that Ronan ever let his guard down around Adam, that Ronan showed Adam sides of himself that he didn’t show anyone else. It all added up, and Adam was good at math.

He worried this game might be too much for Ronan. It was all pretend, but Ronan’s feelings weren’t. And Adam didn’t return those feelings.

Unless he did.

“You just don’t seem like the PDA type,” Adam finally said.

Ronan scowled, but it was without force. Adam knew the difference between real Ronan-scowls and stubborn Ronan-scowls. “I could be.”

Adam snorted. “Doubt it. I bet Blue and Gansey see through this the first five minutes of the date.”

Ronan snarled and leaned closer to Adam, jabbing his chest with a finger. “Bet you they don’t see through it at all.”

“You’re on,” Adam said, dizzy at Ronan’s sudden closeness. He smelled like pine, dreams, and expensive cologne.

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

“No kissing,” Ronan said.

Adam blinked. “What?” he asked, hating the Henrietta twang that came through in the way he drew out the word.

Ronan glanced down at Adam’s mouth, seemingly just as surprised at their proximity as Adam. He leaned back a little. “We can do this stupid plan, but I’m not kissing you. It’s not going that far.”

Adam wasn’t sure why that stung as much as it did. “Oh. Sure. Anything else is fair game, though?”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Ronan stood suddenly and stuck his hands in his pockets. “I’m out of here, then. See you at school Parrish. Can’t wait for our date, Saturday.”

Adam’s expression soured at the sarcasm in Ronan’s voice. “Sure. Hey, text me sometime tonight.”

Ronan hesitated at the door, his hand hovering above the doorknob. “Why?”

“Because if Gansey sees you texting me, he’ll _know_ something’s up.”

Ronan rolled his eyes. “Sure.”

 

Adam forgot his strange request until around midnight, when his phone buzzed with a new text. All it said was “ _Goodnight, Parrish.”_

**Author's Note:**

> If you're enjoying this so far, go follow me on twitter (@anaphiel_) and tell me what you think! I follow back, and you guys are welcome to bug me to update!
> 
> As always, Kudos and Comments appreciated :)


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